Little Buddy
by singabella
Summary: Emmett finds a pet when coming home from a hunt. See how the rest of the family reacts to the new pet.


**Little Buddy**

**Emmett's POV**

It's not often that I find myself on a hunting trip alone. Normally, I'm either with the love of my life, Rosalie, or with one of the guys. I ended up hunting alone this time because Rosie wanted to go shopping with Alice. Apparently, there was some shoe that just became available and she had to have it. I know she told me a lot more about whatever shoe it was but I kind of stopped listening once I realized that it wasn't about creative ways to improve our relationship. None of the guys were available to go with me either. I shudder to think about how whipped they all are with their significant others.

I was feeling pretty pleased with myself as I made my way back toward the house. I managed to find a bear that was just getting out of hibernation and it was feeling pretty cranky when it saw me. I love to play with my food.

I looked down and noticed that my shirt had some tears in it. Hopefully Alice won't notice that this shirt disappears. She wasyammering on and on about the designer being hot or something like that. It's probably another dude that acts like a chick. I'll never understand the humans these days.

I was within a few miles of the house when I caught an interesting scent in the air. It was definitely an animal, but not one I typically run across in the woods. In fact, the scent seems so familiar, but I just couldn't quite place it. I slowed down to a brisk walk and tracked the scent because my curiosity has made me want to know what I'm smelling. It's not really a pleasant smell like a bear, but it's not completely nasty like Jake.

I was quickly stepping over the roots that jutted out from the forest floor and moving branches aside taking a few seconds to actually move them instead of snapping them off because they were in my path. I was close enough to the animal that I could hear it panting. I walked a few more yards in the direction of the panting and moved aside another branch that was in my way before coming to a standstill in front of the animal staring directly into my eyes.

Bark. Bark.

I felt a grin creep across my face at the little dog in front of me. Unlike most animals who seem to sense the predator nature of a vampire, this little guy was wagging its tail back and forth with its tongue hanging out of the side of its mouth.

The little brown dog in front of me was only a puppy and had a large white spot on the end of its tail, the front of its snout, and one white paw on the front left leg. He looked so cute and reminded me of a human memory I thought might have disappeared long ago.

I thought back to the memory of when I was a little boy around the age of seven. I could visualize myself running around the yard where we lived. I was playing fetch with a small dog that looked similar to the one sitting in front of me. I could see how joyful I was to be in the company of "man's best friend". I tried to bring up the name of the dog I was playing with in the memory. After thinking for a few seconds, I finally remembered that my dog's name was Hunter.

I didn't have to think about it long; I knew that I wanted to take this little puppy home. I couldn't imagine someone abandoning this poor little thing in the middle of the forest. After the memory of all the fun I had with my dog as a kid, I decided I could bring the fun back to my life.

"Hey Little Buddy, you want to come home with your best friend, Emmett?" I asked the puppy.

The puppy gave a loud bark and playfully wagged his tail, which I took to mean he loved me already. I picked the puppy up and started running toward the house since I knew he wouldn't be able to keep up with my vampire speed.

As we reached the house, I put the puppy down and he barked happily again at me and ran around my legs a few times. I jogged at a human pace up the front steps to the house and the puppy followed me inside. I quickly realized that I was still the only person at home. I looked down at the puppy sitting by my feet and decided that I needed to get some toys for him to play with.

I took my phone out of my pocket and dialed the number of someone who would be able to help me.

"Hello," Bella answered.

"Hey Bella-bear, I need a favor," I asked in my super sweet voice.

"You don't need to get all whiny, Emmett," Bella replied. "What do you want me to help you with?"

"Can you pick up some toys for a puppy?" I asked.

"Do I even want to know what this is about?" Bella asked with a sigh over the phone. "You know what? Don't tell me. I'll pick some stuff up for you and be there in a little while."

I looked down at Little Buddy, "Don't worry little boy, Bella-bear will be over soon with lots of fun stuff for you."

Since we had to wait for Bella to show up with all the puppy stuff, I decided to show Little Buddy around the house.

"Come on boy," I said clapping my hands, "Follow me."

I decided to just walk through the house this time so Little Buddy could follow me around easily. I gave a running commentary about the different rooms we peaked into.

"Here's the kitchen," I began. "The only person that eats in here is Bella. Although, I guess we can put your food in here, too."

Little Buddy barked twice and wagged his tail, so I knew he was happy about where his food was going to be. I waved my arm for him to follow me to the next location. Little Buddy jogged behind me as I walked over to Edward's piano.

"Okay, just so you know, this is Edward's piano," I told Little Buddy. "If you ever decide to chew on it, make sure Eddie's not around or he might get really mad."

Another tail wag as an acknowledgement. This puppy was a genius!

Little Buddy followed behind me as I went upstairs. The first room I pointed out was my room. "I share my room with Rosie," I told Little Buddy. "She's the hottest woman on the planet and all mine. I don't mind if you come in here, but make sure you don't crimp my style if you know what I mean."

"This is Alice and Jasper's room," I pointed out next. "They are both sweet as can be except for when they're not. Try not to get on their bad side even though Alice will see it coming."

I pointed out Carlisle and Esme's room third. "This is our mom and dad's room," I told Little Buddy. "I would suggest staying far, far away from it. You'll either find something you don't want to see or Esme will get mad about you coming inside it."

"And finally on the grand tour," I pronounced with a sweeping arm gesture, "is Edward's room."

Bark. Bark.

As I watched Little Buddy's tail wag, I smiled broadly. "Now don't mess with Bella if she's ever in the room because she's awesome. But if you ever want to tick Edward off by messing around in here, I won't stop you," I whispered conspiratorally even though it was just the two of us in the house.

"I've got a great idea!" I said snapping my fingers together. "Let's go back downstairs and play some video games while we wait on Bella."

I forgot about maintaining a human pace and ran downstairs. By the time I had the game controller and was waiting for everything to load on the television screen, Little Buddy had made his way downstairs and plopped down on the sofa beside me.

I was in the middle of killing some enemy soldiers admist Little Buddy barking every time he saw a soldier pop up on the screen when I heard the front door open.

"Hey Emmett," called Bella as she came into the living room. "So why did you want stuff for a dog?"

"I've got a new puppy," I told her. Little Buddy ran up to Bella and jumped up on his two legs.

"Hey puppy," Bella said to the puppy as she bent down to scratch behind his ears.

"His name is Little Buddy," I told her. "I found him in the woods today."

Bella looked thoughtful for a second before coming to the decision to say what she was thinking. "Is this really the best place to have a pet?"

"What do you mean?" I asked confused. "We can provide everything Little Buddy could possibly want."

"Well, I was mainly considering the family's food source," Bella responded slowly.

"You think we're going to eat him?!" I exclaimed.

Bella shrugged, "It seemed like a logical thought."

I picked up Little Buddy and held his face up to my cheek. "How could Bella-bear possibly think one of us would eat something as cute as you?"

Little Buddy gave me a giant lick on my chin, which made me grin widely. Looking back at Bella, I asked, "What did you bring?"

"I think I picked up all the typical dog stuff," Bella answered as she began emptying a large tote.

She pulled out two blue dog bowls, a small bag of dog food, some treats, a collar with matching leash, and a couple of chew toys.

"I looked at dog beds," Bella continued, "but I wasn't sure how big it needed to be. You might want to go back and pick one of those up later."

"Little Buddy can just sleep in one of our beds," I told her unconcerned.

Bella just stared at me before saying, "If you think so."

"So what else do I need to know?" I asked.

"The puppy will need to eat a few times a day," Bella answered. "I'm not sure how much to feed the puppy, so I would just read the bag and see what it says. I know that dogs like to get lots of exercise, so you'll need to make sure you take Little Buddy on walks regularly. Little Buddy will also need to go outside to do his business, too."

"Anything else?" I asked rubbing my hands together excitedly.

"The chew toys are supposed to help prevent the puppy from chewing on things he's not supposed to be chewing on," Bella told me. She shrugged, "That's all I've got for you. I'm not really the expert on pets."

"Thanks Bella-bear," I told her giving her a hug that wouldn't squeeze her to death.

"No problem Emmett," Bella said squeezing me back as hard as she can.

Bella turned around and walked a few steps toward the front door then paused. Half turning around she asked, "Are you sure that the rest of the family is going to be okay with the new puppy?"

I rolled my eyes at her. "Of course they will," I told her.

"Emmett, having this puppy is not okay!" Alice yelled at me.

The rest of the family had come back home a few hours after Bella had left the house. After calling Little Buddy several times, I finally ran through the house until I found the little puppy in Carlisle's office. He was playing with some paper on the floor, so I picked him up and patted his head before jogging back to the living room where the family was congregating.

When everyone saw the puppy, the expressions of joy and excitement that I had envisioned everyone having never appeared. Instead I saw disgust and frowns on almost everyone's face as I looked at the family standing in front of me.

"Where did you even find it?" Edward asked with a heavy sigh.

"I found Little Buddy on my way home from hunting," I responded. "He took to me right away and brought back memories of having a dog when I was a little boy."

Carlisle put a hand on my shoulder as he spoke, "I'm glad this puppy is bringing back good memories for you, but you really should have consulted with the rest of us before bringing him home."

"What if some little boy or girl is searching for him?" Esme asked worriedly. "I would hate for the poor child to not find their pet."

"Can we just dump it somewhere?" Rosalie asked scrunching up her nose. "It's stinking up the place."

"What if Jasper eats it?" Alice asked frowning.

I frowned as I looked over at Jasper trying to determine if he might eat my puppy.

"Be serious," Jasper snapped at both of us. "I wouldn't eat that nasty thing if it was the last thing on Earth."

"Of course you wouldn't," Alice ammended placing a hand on his arm.

Carlisle held his hands up to calm everyone down. "Okay, this is what's going to happen," he said looking at me. "Emmett, you will perform a search around this area to see if anyone is missing a dog of this description. If so, you will return the dog as soon as possible. If no one has reported this dog missing, then you can keep him for two more days. We'll determine at the end of that time if the family can afford to keep him."

I watched as everyone looked expectantly at me. "Fine," I grumbled.

"Now, do you have everything you need for the dog?" Carlisle asked with a raised eyebrow.

I nodded quickly feeling like a little boy. "Bella, came by earlier and brought a bunch of stuff for Little Buddy."

"Good," Carlisle replied with a quick nod. "I'm expecting you to take care of him in the meantime."

Carlisle quickly turned to leave signalling that this discussion was over. I watched as everyone else filed out of the room and plopped down on the sofa in front of the television.

I turned the television on and found a sports channel with a hockey game on. I always loved to watch some good human fights. I looked over at Little Buddy, who had stretched out next to me on the sofa.

"Looks like it's just you and me," I told him.

I had been sitting there for only a few minutes and was just getting interested in the game, when I heard a scream from upstairs.

"Emmett!" Alice yelled as she came running down the stairs in a fury with Jasper trailing behind looking a little angry.

"What is it?" I asked while petting the puppy.

"That puppy," Alice growled, "ruined my new dress."

As proof of what she was talking about, she through a bundle of fabric at me that she had been holding in her right hand. I held it up to see what she was talking about and gulped. What might have been a beautiful emerald green silk dress looked more like ribbons of fabric now.

"Are you sure Little Buddy did this?" I asked going for the innocent route.

It didn't work.

"If Little Buddy didn't rip my dress to shreads, then you must have," Alice spoke slowly as if she was trying to keep from ripping my head off.

Jasper stepped up a little closer to Alice, but I wasn't sure if it was to prevent her from tearing me to pieces or to help.

"Okay," I said holding my hands up in a placating gesture. "I can buy you another one if you tell me which store it came from."

"That dress did not come from a store," Alice said with a sneer. "It was a one of a kind piece from a new designer in Italy. He made it for me."

"Emmett, get up here now!" Rosalie yelled from upstairs.

I quietly groaned wondering what she wanted now. I was already in the middle of a problem with Alice. I was pretty sure that Jasper wouldn't have cared much, but he was probably feeling so much anger rolling off of Alice that his disposition was affected as well.

I jogged upstairs with a fuming Alice and irritated Jasper following behind me. I couldn't imagine what I had done now that has Rosalie in one of her moods.

When I entered the bedroom, I found Rosalie looking angry and disgusted.

"How could you let that mutt do this?" she asked angrily waving her hand around.

I quickly looked around the room and didn't see anything out of place or shredded to indicate that Little Buddy might have damaged some more clothing. I did smell something pretty bad but didn't want to call it to her attention right now while she's already fired up.

"What did Little Buddy do?" I asked.

"He pooped in my new Christian Louboutin shoes!" Rosalie wailed.

"Oh no!" Alice yelled. "You mean those pretty red ones?"

"Yes!" Rosalie answered angrily. "You," she said pointing at me, "will clean this mess up and buy me some new shoes to replace what I had."

"But if I clean them, can't you wear them again?" I asked hesitantly hoping I wouldn't get yelled out again.

"I would never allow my foot to touch a shoe that's been pooped on!" Rosalie said outraged.

"How could you even suggest such a thing?" Alice asked disgustedly.

"How did this even happen, Emmett?" Jasper asked sighing.

"I have no idea," I told all of them. "He was right beside me when I first started playing video games."

"Did you keep an eye on him the whole time" Rosalie asked with a raised eyebrow.

I thought about it and shrugged helplessly. "Well, no. But I figured he would just sit close to me the whole time and watch me annihilate the enemy."

"Emmett, it's a _dog_!" Alice said stamping her foot.

"I hate to say it man, but dogs don't exactly sit still for hours watching a television screen," Jasper said shaking his head.

"I can't believe you," Rosalie said frustrated.

I looked on helplessly as both women walked out. Jasper gave me a clap on the back and said, "Good luck getting out of the doghouse now."

As I was left alone, I was glad that I at least knew what caused the terrible smell in here. I couldn't believe I was going to have clean up puppy poop. I needed to make sure to give Little Buddy a lecture on not pooping around the house.

Thinking of Little Buddy, I wondered where he had gotten off to. I noticed now that he wisely didn't follow us upstairs. I shrugged my shoulders thinking that he probably couldn't get into any more trouble during the period of time it would take me to clean up the poop.

I wondered over to the closet where it smelled the worst and found the shoe Rosalie was talking about. I couldn't believe such a small dog could leave so much behind. Since Rosalie wanted to get rid of the shoes, I grabbed both making sure I didn't touch any poop with my bare hands. I walked over to the window and tossed them as far as I could.

With a job well done, I decided it was time to find Little Buddy and give him that lecture. I walked downstairs and looked around for him. I couldn't find him hiding anywhere downstairs. Frowning, I wondered into Carlisle who was heading in my direction.

"Did you allow your dog into my study?" he asked frowning.

"I didn't tell him to go in your study," I replied quickly.

When Carlisle continued to give me a disapproving look, I quickly added, "I found him in there earlier when I was bringing him to show everyone."

Carlisle shoved a leather journal at me, "Look at what he did to my journal."

I examined the journal and found that the leather portion had teeth marks all over it as if something had been chewing on it. Flipping through the pages, I noticed that most of the pages had been torn into several different pieces or had holes in them. At least now I know why it looked like confetti in there when I grabbed him earlier.

"Have you seen Little Buddy?" I asked in a voice that was reminiscent of a little boy.

"Yes," Carlisle told me. "I put him outside until you can fix this mess you've made."

"But what if he gets scared or runs away?" I asked.

"He's tied to a tree," Carlisle replied in a tired voice.

I opened my mouth to say something else but noticed Carlisle's expression. Instead, I turned away and walked out the front door to find the tree Little Buddy was tied to.

Luckily, Little Buddy wasn't too far away from the front of the house. He was busy sniffing around his surroundings. At least he wasn't scared of the dark. I walked up to him and sat down on the solid ground.

"Little Buddy, you have gotten me into a lot of trouble," I told him. "You need to be careful not to tear people's clothes or papers. You also do not _ever_ poop in the house," I continued wagging my index finger at him.

"I had to clean up your mess and lots of people are angry at both of us right now," I said sighing heavily. "Since Carlisle is the one who put you outside, I'm not going to be able to bring you back in the house right away. If you need anything, just bark and I'll come right away to check on you."

I got up and patted Little Buddy on the head. I knew that I was definitely going to have to work hard to make reparations to Rosalie. She was the main one I cared about since I wouldn't be allowed in the bedroom until she was happy with me again.

I took one final look at my puppy and hoped he would be okay out here. I swallowed what felt like a lump in my throat and felt my eyes sting a bit. I finally turned away and headed slowly toward the house.

On my way, I pulled my phone out and called Bella. Upon hearing her sleepily say, "Hello," I began talking.

"Bella, can you come get Little Buddy in the morning?" I asked.

"Emmett, do you have any idea what time it is?" she asked.

I glanced at the time on the phone and put it back up to my ear. "Sorry, I didn't realize it was 2 am," I said sheepishly.

"What did you want me to do?" she asked again sounding a little more alert.

"I just need you to come pick up Little Buddy and take care of him for most of the day," I told her. "I'm kinda in a bit of trouble with Rosalie and it would be best if I spent my day trying to make it up to her."

"What did you do?" Bella asked. "Nevermind, I don't want to know any details. I'll come by around 8 am and pick him up."

"Thank you so much," I told her. "I'll do anything you want to make it up to you."

"Make me immortal?" she asked.

The smile left my face quickly. "Okay, I won't do _anything. _Edward would rip all my limbs off before killing me."

Bella laughed softly over the phone. "I was just playing with you. You know I want Edward to turn me anyway."

I heard a yawn over the phone. "Thank you again, Bella," I told her. "Go back to sleep now."

"Good night Emmett," she said sleepily before hanging up.

**Bella's POV**

After getting some of the usual chores like laundry and dishes out of the way, I headed over to the Cullen's house to pick up Little Buddy. Part of me was still curious over what Emmett had done to get in such hot water with Rosalie, but I figured that he must have said something inappropriate as usual.

I didn't mind helping out a friend and the puppy was pretty cute. I'm not sure how well behaved he is but decided that I would take him on a long walk during the day to let him get some exercise.

Surprisingly, when I drove up to the house, Emmett was waiting for me outside. I guessed based on this that his situation must be pretty dire.

"Hey Emmett," I greeted him when I stepped out of the truck.

"Hey Bella," Emmett returned holding up a large bag. "I grabbed all of the stuff Little Buddy might need. It has the toys, dog bowls, leash, and a day's supply of food."

"Thanks," I said. I tried to take it from him, but Emmett quickly stashed it in the back of the truck for me.

"Thank you for doing this for me," he told me sincerely.

"It's no problem at all," I replied.

I watched Emmett run off faster than I could track and then return seconds later with Little Buddy in his arms. Emmett handed him to me, and I tried to hold him as he squirmed around trying to lick my chin.

Emmett bent down to eye level with the puppy and said, "Now, you better be good around Bella."

The puppy barked and again tried to lick me. I laughed at him and walked back to the driver's side door of my truck.

"I'll come by later to pick him up," Emmett said giving us a wave as he walked back inside.

I looked down at the puppy in my arms. "Okay, it's just you and me now, Little Buddy."

I carefully placed the puppy on the passenger seat and drove back home. I was amused with Little Buddy keeping his nose pressed against the passenger window looking out at the passing surroundings.

Once we reached my house, I opened my door and Little Buddy jumped out my side without me asking. He ran around the yard turning circles and barking. I smiled thinking that he seemed pretty happy.

I walked around to the back of the truck to grab the bag with all of his stuff in it. I felt like my arm almost jerked out of place because the bag was much heavier than I expected. I peeked inside to see why it weighed so much and sighed. Apparently, a day's worth of food to Emmett meant the whole ten pound bag. When that was added to the bowls and toys also included in the bag, it probably weighed closer to twenty pounds.

I grabbed the bag again and lugged it inside calling Little Buddy at the same time. He followed me in with me being extra careful to not trip over the puppy since he kept running around my feet.

I put the bag in the kitchen and filled one bowl up with water. After putting a little bit of dry dog food into the other bowl, I set both bowls down in the corner of the kitchen. I pointed them out to the puppy to make sure he knew where they were.

After dropping the toys in the living room, I put the bag away with the rest of the food somewhere the puppy shouldn't be able to reach. The only reason I thought of this was remembering a story I heard a few years ago about a dog finding their bag of dog food and ripping the bag open trying to get into it. The girl was complaining about how she had to clean up all the food that was spread out all over the room.

"Do you want to go for a walk?" I asked the puppy, who barked and turned a quick circle in front of me.

I heard my phone ring before I could grab the leash. "Okay, just a minute, Little Buddy," I told the puppy.

"Hello?" I asked without looking at who was calling.

"Bella dear," Esme's voice came through, "I'm working on a pot roast and hoped you would come by to try it."

I couldn't help the smile that came across my face as I thought of the mother figure in my life cooking even though no one in the house could eat the food.

"Well, I'm keeping Emmett's puppy for him today, but I can try to swing by later," I told her.

"I can't believe that boy got you to keep the dog already," Esme said.

I laughed, "He said he was in trouble with Rose again."

"He sure is," Esme said laughing. "That puppy pooped in one of her shoes."

A loud laugh burst out of me at the thought of Rose finding poop in her shoe. "No wonder he's trying to make everything better," I said.

"Rosalie isn't the only one upset with him," Esme told me.

"Oh really?" I asked.

"Yes, but I won't go into the rest right now," Esme responded. "Perhaps when you come by later to eat my pot roast?"

"Definitely," I agreed.

After saying our goodbyes, I hung up the phone and looked down at the puppy still standing in front of me. "Well, it looks like you've been up to no good at the Cullen house."

I grabbed the leash and hooked it up to Little Buddy's collar. We walked outside and I glanced at the weather, which was overcast as usual.

After heading in the direction of the nearest house, I heard my phone ring in my jacket pocket.

I picked it up and noticed Edward's picture on the phone. "Hello," I greeted him.

"Hello love," his rich voice spoke in the phone. "I was thinking of coming by to pick you up."

"So I can try Esme's pot roast?" I asked smiling.

"How did you know?" Edward teased.

"She called a few minutes ago," I told him. "I'm actually walking the puppy around the neighborhood right now."

"That thing?" Edward asked disgustedly.

"It's not a thing!" I scolded. "It's a sweet puppy."

"I'll reserve judgement," came Edward's response.

"Anyway, I think we'll take a thirty minute walk since he definitely has a lot of energy," I said.

"You're just walking down the street and not in the woods, right?" Edward asked concerned.

"Of course," I replied. "Is there something I should know?"

"No, no," Edward answered quickly. "It's just always good to be careful."

"Okay," I said.

"I'll come by and pick you up in a little while," Edward told me.

"See you soon," I replied.

After hanging up the phone, I began walking down the street again with Little Buddy. He quickly led the way straining against the leash.

I noticed that one of the houses in the neighborhood must be having their septic tank pumped out because I saw the large septic tank truck in their yard.

We continued walking through the area. Little Buddy would stop every so often to sniff a fire hydrant or mail box. I was admiring the houses we walked by, which were mostly older homes.

After continuing on our way for about fifteen minutes, I decided that it was probably time to turn back. I swung around and Little Buddy followed before gaining the lead once again.

When we were closer to home, I watched for a moment as the septc tank truck begin to back out of the neighbor's driveway in order to leave. Edward should be arriving soon.

"Hey Bella!" a voice called from right in front of me.

I shreaked because I had been paying attention to the neighbor's house and not Mike Newton walking up the street to me. Unfortunately, when I did, I also let go of the leash.

I watched in horror as Little Buddy took off across the street where the septic tank truck had pulled out onto the road in his direction. I saw Edward's car peal around the corner and head toward both of them in the opposite direction.

Mike Newton, who was standing in front of me on the street, took the opportunity to slide his arm around my shoulder. I'm sure he felt he was comforting me, but I wanted to go chasing after the puppy.

The man driving the septic tank truck saw Little Buddy and swerved to avoid the dog. His swerving put him right in front of Edward's car. I watched as Edward glanced over toward me, most likely checking to make sure I was out of the way. He began glaring when he saw Mike's arm around my shoulders. That second might have been the cause for what happened.

Edward swerved in the opposite direction to avoid the truck. However, he was going too fast down the streets that were still moist from the rain the day before. Even with the vampire reflexes, he ended up hitting the side of the truck hard with the front of his car.

"Oh shit," Mike murmurred beside me.

In all the confusion and madness, I saw Little Buddy make it to the other side of the road and pee against a tree.

"Oh no," I moaned.

"Wow, look at Cullen's car," Mike observed.

I did look at the destruction in front of me. The septic tank truck would have still been road-worthy if it wasn't for the fact that Edward hit it hard enough to crack the side. I watched as the contents of the truck leaked out onto the road and Edward's car.

Edward's car was another story. The front of the car was crumpled up and the glass from the windshield as well as the passenger and driver's side windows had cracked and fallen out on the street. I saw some steam rising from the crumpled hood.

"Edward, are you okay?!" I shouted.

He still hadn't tried to get out of the car. Even though I knew that nothing like this should kill him, I still worried.

Mike attempted to grab my arm to keep me off the street, but I jerked away and ran toward Edward. By the time I reached the car, Edward looked over at me from inside it. He unbuckled his seatbelt and motioned for me to step back. I moved away as Edward used enough strength to get the car door open. I was pretty sure that no human would have been able to open that door.

I didn't pay much attention to the smell around us until Edward was safely out of the car. I threw my arms around him and hugged him as hard as I could manage.

"Thank goodness you're okay," I told him.

Edward put his arms gently around me. "You know it's difficult to get rid of me," he said softly. "However, I'm not sure if I want to get rid of Newton or that mutt first," he continued.

"What? Why?" I asked quickly.

"That stupid dog of Emmett's has totaled my car!" he yelled. "And Newton should know to stay away from you by now."

"It's just a car," I tried to persuade.

Edward gave me a look and I knew there was no further discussion when it came to his car.

"Everybody okay?" the man from the septic tank truck asked as he clambored out.

"Yes, we're fine," Edward spoke for both of us. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, thankfully, it looks like the side of the truck took all the damage," the man replied. "You shouldn't have been driving so fast on these streets," he reprimanded.

Edward nodded solemnly and looked back at his car.

"Bella, do you want a ride home?" Mike decided to ask then.

"No!" both Edward and I yelled at the same time.

Mike looked taken aback, and I hated to hurt his feelings. "Sorry Mike, but I live just around the corner and I need to get the puppy and make sure Edward can get home."

Mike ignored the hateful looks coming off Edward and kept his gaze on me. "No offense taken Bella," he replied. "I'll see you later."

It didn't take long for things to get worse when I saw my dad pull up in his police car. I heard Edward groan next to me when he saw it. My dad climbed out of the car and strolled over to the two of us.

"Bella, you okay?" he asked first.

"I'm fine dad," I told him.

"Good," he said. "I'll need statements from both of you in a minute."

I watched my dad walk over to the driver of the truck and begin talking to him while jotting down notes on a pad of paper he was carrying.

"This is not good," I mumbled.

After spending several minutes with the truck driver, Charlie walked back over to us. "Can you tell me what happened here?" he asked.

Edward and I filled him in as completely as possible with everything that led up to the accident. I tried to lean over and turn my head a little to see what Charlie was writing down on his notepad, but he was very good at blocking me.

When we both finished giving our account of the events, Charlie closed his notepad up with a nod of his head. He had a slight smile on his face that he couldn't quite hide, so I was feeling pretty optimistic about the situation. When I glanced over at Edward's face, I noticed that he still retained that perfect stony expression of his that didn't give anything away.

Charlie walked back over to the driver and talked for a few minutes more. The driver then hopped back inside his truck while he probably waited for a clean-up crew and tow truck to show up.

When Charlie came back over to us, he had his notepad back out again and was writing furiously on it.

With a slight shake of his head Charlie spoke, "Well Edward, I'm afraid that you are considered the responsible party for the accident."

I couldn't help the little gasp I made. "But dad, it was the puppy running out in front of Edward's car that caused it," I argued.

"Edward, if you had been driving the speed limit, you would have easily been able to avoid this accident," Charlie continued ignoring me. "In fact, I would say that based on the damage to the truck and your car, you were probably going well beyond twenty miles over the posted speed limit. Son, that's considered reckles driving."

Charlie tore off the first sheet of paper. "Here's your ticket for you to pay at your earliest convenience. I'll need to take your driver's license from you, too."

I looked over at Edward with wide eyes to see Edward's jaw clench. He reached into his back pocket where he kept his wallet and pulled the driver's license out. I wouldn't have been surprised if he had thrown the license at Charlie's feet because I certainly would have. Instead, Edward outwardly maintained his calm and handed the license over to my dad. I could tell he was seething inside.

Charlie gave a quick nod and clapped me on the shoulder. I gave a weak smile acknowledging his brand of affection. About that time I watched a tow truck arrive along with the fire department to get everything cleaned up.

It took another twenty minutes for everything to get cleaned up and for the vehicles to be pulled apart enough for the tow truck to get Edward's car hooked up. In that time another tow truck designed to haul large trucks showed up.

Edward watched with a sad expression as the tow truck driver gave him a receipt for towing his car away. I rubbed his back in consolation. When his car was towed down the street, I finally turned to Edward.

"Do you want me to take you home?" I asked.

"Sure," Edward said resignedly.

"I just need to grab Little Buddy," I said as I found him still sniffing around the neighbor's yard.

Edward jogged over and picked up the puppy. I was a little surprised at how gentle he handled the puppy considering I knew he was still blaming Little Buddy for his car.

We walked at a brisk pace back to my house. I decided that since half the day had already passed, I would go ahead and grab the bag Emmett gave me in case it was early enough to return the puppy to him.

When we walked inside the house, Edward helped me pack up all the puppy's stuff into the bag and carried it outside to place it in the back of the truck. Little Buddy was helped inside the truck because I worried that he might try to jump out the back. He helped himself to Edward's lap to look out the window. I couldn't help the smile when I looked over and noticed Edward's disgusted expression.

I drove my usual pace, which was slow, to the Cullen's house. When we reached the house, Edward quickly got out of the truck and dropped Little Buddy on the ground. He still reached my door to open it before I had a chance to do it myself. After helping me out of the truck, Edward grabbed the bag from the back and we walked inside the house together with the puppy running between our legs the entire time.

"Bella!" Esme greeted me upon entering the house. "I'm so glad you came over. You're just in time to taste my pot roast."

"Edward!" Alice called from the stairs, "I can't believe what happened!"

"What happened?" Esme asked concerned as the rest of the family trailed into the living room.

"I totaled my car," Edward mumbled.

"What?!" the family all asked at once.

"That dog ran in front of me and caused me to wreck my car," Edward yelled angrily as he pointed toward the puppy innocently sitting on the sofa.

"And you hit a septic tank truck," Alice added.

Edward just glared at her.

"No wonder you smell like crap," Emmett told him trying to contain a hearty laugh.

"Well, at least no one was hurt, right?" Esme asked.

"No, no one was injured thankfully," I replied.

"In that case, let me fix you a plate," Esme told me.

I followed her into the kitchen where I saw a huge pot roast sitting in a roasting pan with a variety of vegetables sitting around it. Esme pulled a plate out of the cabinet and dished out a mighty helping for me.

As I carried the plate to their table, I accidently mis-stepped tilting the plate enough for some of the meat to fall on the floor. Alice was by my side quickly enough to catch me before I fell, and I shot her a grateful smile.

The next thing I saw was Little Buddy running into the room, picking up the meat, and running out of the room. I had to put my plate down before trying to find where the puppy went.

When I reached the living room, I found Esme yelling at Emmett, who was crouched down by the piano trying get the puppy. I guess Emmett was afraid of hurting the puppy by using his vampire speed because he was reaching for the puppy at a human pace. Everytime he reached, Little Buddy would move away in a different direction.

As I walked closer to the scene, I saw that Edward's piano keys must have had some of the meat on them because I saw bits of meat flecks along with gravy on some of the keys. There also seemed to be bits of dog fur along the seat and even the top of the piano.

"Emmett, just grab the dog and get it out of the house," Carlisle demanded.

When Emmett reached for the puppy again, Little Buddy shot out from under the piano and ran directly at me. I tried to reach for him, but he ended up scratching me instead.

"Ow!" I yelled.

I saw all the vampire eyes turn toward me and quickly looked down at my hand. When I didn't see any blood flowing, I raised it up for them to see.

"All good, no blood," I said quickly.

Jasper was the first person to realize that I hadn't been injured too badly and quickly found the puppy. He held the puppy up by the back of Little Buddy's neck. "I'll go take care of this," he said with a devious smile.

Jasper left the house with Little Buddy and I never saw him again.

**Two Weeks Later...**

**Jasper's POV:**

I was lounging on the sofa in the living room watching a documentary on the Civil War when Bella came by the house.

"Hey Bella," I called over my shoulder.

"Hey Jasper," Bella replied. "Good show?"

I shrugged, "They have a few minor details that are flawed, but it's good otherwise."

"Alice told me to come by and pick up a dress," Bella said while shuffling her feet back and forth.

I smiled, "I'm sure it was more of a demand if Alice told you to do it. You are perfectly welcome to go rummage around our room to find what you're looking for."

"Thanks," Bella said.

"You might not want to thank me until you've seen whatever it is," I told her grinning.

My focus was back on the show as Bella ascended the stairs. I didn't really pay attention to how long she had been up there, but I heard her when she began to come down the stairs.

I looked over when Bella reached the floor and saw she had a garment bag in her hands. I could tell that she was nervous, which puzzled me a little bit. I didn't think she would be nervous to be around me alone. I knew she had more faith in me than I sometimes deserved.

"What is it?" I finally asked.

"Umm...," Bella hesitated. "Well, Jasper, I really just wanted to know if you, um, ate Little Buddy."

I couldn't help the bark of laughter that escaped me.

"You... thought... I ate... the... dog?" I asked between laughs.

"You didn't?" she asked.

I shook my head. "Alice was too busy with shopping the first day to foresee Emmett making the decision to bring the dog here. However, she later had another vision where she saw someone that would make a wonderful owner."

As Bella sat down on a chair opposite me I continued, "Alice told me about the vision and I contacted the guy to see if he would be interested. Of course, I already knew that he would want the dog based on Alice's vision."

"So where is the puppy?" Bella asked.

"When that dog tried to bite you, I knew it was the best time to get rid of it," I told her. "I took him to our border with the Quileute and gave him to Embry."

"So Embry has Little Buddy?" Bella asked smiling.

"Yes," I nodded. "And that puppy is doing just fine around all the wolves."


End file.
